Motorway in Mallorca

Motorways, like all major roads in Mallorca, are numbered. The signs are marked with blue signs, while secondary routes (equivalent to A or B roads in the UK) are marked with yellow signs.

Maximum speed and roundabouts

Mallorca's motorway network is limited. Only a few of the major roads are designated as motorway, and marked in blue. The four-lane motorways have two lanes, which are separated by a green central reservation from the opposite lane. The maximum speed limit on Mallorcan motorways is 120 km/h. Some secondary routes are indistinguishable from the motorways apart from the colour of the signs. Secondary routes have a top speed of 100 km/h.

For most drivers, Mallorcan roads take some getting used to. At irregular intervals, roundabouts appear, which usually have two lanes and are announced in advance by signs. You need to have your wits about you at roundabouts as unexpected lane changes are not uncommon, which can significantly raise the chances of an accident. Apart from this idiosyncrasy, the motorways of Mallorca move well and are the quickest way to travel around the island.

Mallorca's main motorway connections

In addition to the blue road signs, Mallorca's motorways are identified by a one or two-digit number. The ferry terminal at Palma de Mallorca is an important motorway intersection. There, the MA-1 branches off to the north and meets the MA-20 in the west. The latter is the Palma bypass. At the ferry terminal, the MA-19 also begins, which leads southeast to Santanyi on the southeast coast of Mallorca. Behind the resort of Llucmajor, the motorway is downgraded to a secondary route.

North of the city centre of Palma, the MA-13 branches off the bypass. It connects Palma de Mallorca with the leather town of Inca and continues behind the town as the motorway to Alcúdia in the north of Mallorca. The main transport connection in the northeast of the island is the MA-15. The motorway branches off the MA-20 and passes the Airport in Mallorca until just beyond Cala Ratjada on the northeast coast of Mallorca. At Vilafranca de Bonany the motorway turns into a secondary route. It passes the town of Manacor and later forks heading north to Artá and east to Cala Ratjada.

Toll Roads in Mallorca

Sections of the motorway where toll payments are due is marked with a capital "P". Only certain stretches of road are funded by tolls on the island and the costs are manageable as only a few cents are charged per kilometre driven. The Sóller Tunnel on the main road connecting Palma de Mallorca with the city of Sóller on the northwest coast of Mallorca in the Valley of Gold has been a frustrating bottleneck for many years. It costs 9.90 euros at the time of writing for cars and coaches pay double the amount. This makes the carriageway under the mountain the most expensive toll road in Spain.

However there is some good news for drivers, who spend hours with the stress of being stuck in traffic in front of the toll barriers each summer. On 6th March 2017, the Island Council decided to scrap toll fees and from 1st September 2017, the toll will be waived and the toll booths will be dismantled.

Numerous tourists and locals avoided the Sóller tunnel due to the high toll fees and preferred to bypass the tunnel by driving through the Coll de Sóller mountain pass. Although the journey takes 20 minutes longer, with its 60 bends, the road is one of the most scenic routes on the island.